THE VITAL CONNECTION – John 15:1-8

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 23, 2013 under PM Bible Study |

PM Home Bible Study Group; October 23, 2013

John 15:1-8

Theme: We can only be fruitful for Christ to the degree that we are faithfully abiding in Him.

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

At the conclusion of Jesus’ passover meal with His disciples in John 14, He said, “Arise, let us go from here” (John 14:31). And given the words that follow, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that as our Lord and His disciples strode along on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, they came to a grapevine—a common sight in that day.

That journey to the Garden—where Jesus was later arrested by those who would crucify Him—became the occasion of one of the most majestic conversations recorded in all of Scripture. And that grapevine encountered along the way—if our speculation is correct—then became the inspiration for perhaps the greatest object lesson our Lord ever taught us as His followers:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:1-8).

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The Christian faith isn’t meant to be thought of in the same way as the other religious systems of mankind are thought of. In other religious movements, their followers practice their religion independent from that religion’s founder. A practitioner of Confucianism, for example, simply follows the teachings of Confucius. He neither has, nor needs, nor seeks, nor can ever have a relationship with Confucius himself Likewise, a Buddhist may practice Buddhism without being concerned about having any connection with Buddha whatsoever. But here, Jesus taught His disciples that they could not practice His teachings without being vitally connected to Himself. Take away real, living, personally dependent relationship with Jesus Himself, and you no longer have the Christian faith as He taught it. In fact, He taught His followers that they could no more bear fruit in the Christian life without Him than the branch could produce grapes disconnected from the vine.

This may explain why many professing Christians today are frustrated in their faith, and feel that their experience is a fruitless one. They seem to be doing all the right things. They’ve been baptized; they read the Bible; they go to church regularly; they tithe; they work hard at living a righteous life; they may even be giving their time in service to others. And yet, their experience with Christianity doesn’t seem to be what they know it ought to be. They don’t have joy. Their prayers aren’t answered. They are lacking peace in their hearts. They don’t have power in their testimony toward others. They’re not victorious over the sins of the flesh. The ‘Christian faith’ doesn’t seem to work for them. And perhaps the reason for their frustration is found in this evening’s passage. Perhaps they’re only abiding in ‘Christianity’—and are not abiding in the Person of Jesus Christ Himself.

We need very much to explore the principles Jesus is teaching us in this great ‘object lesson’. It’s only as we abide in Him as a Person—not merely as a distant religious leader or inspirational figure, but as a very present, very intimate, very loving Person—that we will be able to enjoy a fruitful Christian life. Abiding in Jesus Christ is essential to fruitfulness in the Christian life.

Note, then, that . . .

I. JESUS IS THE TRUE VINE (v. 1a).

Imagine as they walked along that Jesus stopped, gently took a grapevine in His hand, and said, “I am the true vine . . .” What they would have seen was a long vine, from which individual branches grew, and at the end of which were lush clusters of grapes. The grapes were the fruit of the branches; but they would have seen that the life of the branches—and thus their fruitfulness—was drawn from the vine itself. The branches didn’t have any individual life that could produce the grapes. They could only draw their life and their fruitfulness from the branch. Detach the branch from the vine, and it would wither and die—and no fruit would be produced.

Jesus wanted His disciples, then, to see the primary role He played in their life. He wasn’t simply sending them out into the world to be free-standing branches that produced fruit in their own power. They couldn’t. Instead, He was sending them out into the world with a sense of their absolute dependency upon Him for all that they were and for all that they could do—indeed, for their very source of life!

It’s interesting that Jesus said that He was “the true vine”. Grapevines are used frequently in the Old Testament Scriptures as a picture of Israel. Isaiah, for example, illustrated God’s frustration over Israel by singing a song about a vineyard that wouldn’t produce anything but worthless grapes (Isaiah 5:1-7). In Jeremiah 2:21, the Lord says, “Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?” Jesus was making an important affirmation about Himself to His disciples. While there may be many things in in this world from which we may be tempted to draw such things as life, health, growth, strength, fruitfulness, joy and happiness—even if it were an attachment to God’s covenant nation Israel and to the laws He gave as its heritage—Jesus nevertheless declares that He alone is the ‘true’ vine and the only true source of these things. He once told the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). They sought life in ‘Judaism’—much like some people seek life in ‘Christianity’. But those things aren’t the source of life. Only Jesus is. As 1 John 5:11-12 says, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

II. THE FATHER IS THE VINEDRESSER (v. 1b).

Jesus not only tells us who He is in relation to us, but also who His Father is in relation to us. He adds, “and My Father is the vinedresser . . .” Jesus doesn’t act independently of the Father; but in complete obedience to the Father. And in obedience to the Father, He submits to the role of ‘vine’ and to the Father’s role as ‘vinedresser’.

This should be a great encouragement to us. It means that just as the Father cares for the vine, He also cares for the branches; and is very much committed to the fruit that the branches bear. Because we are attached to the vine, we are the personal concern of the Father. As Jesus Himself said; ““These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God” (John 16:25-27). In fact, Jesus even goes so far as to pray, “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:23). That the Father is the vinedresser means that we are under His constant love and care.

III. FRUITFULNESS IS THE GOAL (v. 2).

The name that Jesus gives the Father in relation to us is one that testifies that a specific goal is in mind. The vinedresser seeks ‘fruit’. And in the case of the branch attached to the grapevine, the expected ‘fruit’ would be grapes. But in the case of the man or woman attached to Jesus Christ, the sort of fruit that is sought is Christ-like character and behavior; and that fruit advances the Father’s glory and pleasure. As Galatians 5:22-23 says; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”—and these qualities describe the very qualities of our Lord Himself.

The Bible makes it clear, in several places that such ‘fruitfulness’ is to be expected in the life of a believer. Paul said, in Romans 7:4, that we’ve been joined to Christ—”to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Rom. 7:4). He wrote to the believers in Philippi and said, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11). He told the Colossians that he prayed for them, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). James taught, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Paul instructed Pastor Titus to properly exhort the believers under his care, saying, “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14). And the apostle Peter encouraged his readers to work to build certain Christian character qualities into their lives, “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8).

And notice the care that the Father gives to this work. Jesus says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (v. 2). The word that is translated “takes away” can also be translated “raises up”. And this would be the correct way to understand this. A good and wise vinedresser, when he comes along and sees a branch that lies low and does not bear fruit, doesn’t simply snip it off the vine. Far from it! Rather, he lifts it up from the dust and the dirt, raises it up and washes it so that it can get sunlight, and gently nurtures it so that it will become a fruit-bearing branch. And, of course, every branch that bears fruit, he carefully trims—snipping away the things from the branch that sap its strength or that compromises its ability, and ‘cleans’ it so that it can bear more fruit. How thankful we should be to our Father that He lovingly cares for every branch that is attached to His Son Jesus. Jesus rejoiced in the Father’s ministry as ‘vinedresser’; and so should we. We shouldn’t recoil when we see the Father coming toward us with a pair of trimmers in His loving hand. As James wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4).

IV. ABIDING IN JESUS IS ESSENTIAL TO FRUITFULNESS (vv. 3-5).

Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (v. 3). Jesus, of course, didn’t mean that His disciples were perfect. He simply meant that the Father has already dressed these and trimmed them for the purpose of bearing fruit. And note the means of His having cleaned them—the word that Jesus Himself spoke to them. When He was praying for them, Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Paul wrote, ” Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:25-26). The word of God is the great trimming knife in our lives; just as the writer of Hebrews said: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

And then, Jesus commanded, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” (v. 4a). The command to “abide” constitutes the main word of instruction in this passage. What it means to “abide” can best be understood in terms of the relationship that the branch has with the grapevine. Imagine what would happen if you was driving past a grapevine, and thought to yourself how nice it would be to always have fresh grapes. Suppose you stop and just broke off a branch and took it home, placed it in some water, and waited for your own constant supply of fresh grapes. Of course, nothing would happen. The branch can only produce grapes if it’s attached to the vine in such a way as to draw its life from it. Similarly, you and I cannot reproduce the character and behavior of Christ on our own—somehow independent of Jesus Himself. As ‘branches’, we must maintain a constant, continual, vital, personal communion with Jesus Christ on an ongoing basis for His fruit to be produced in us. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,” Jesus said, “neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (v. 4b).

And note further that it’s not just a matter of our abiding in Jesus; but also of Him abiding in us! Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (v. 5). The branch that is abiding on the vine, in a sense, also has the vine abiding in it. The vine’s sap and juice flows from itself into the branch. A whole long grapevine that is covered over with branches, leaves and grape-clusters, has one principle of life flowing though every part; and it shares that principle of life with everything that is abiding in it. That’s why the branch is able to produce the fruit of the vine. The branch doesn’t have the power to produce grapes on its own; it is able to produce grapes only because it is abiding in the vine, and because the vine is abiding in it. Similarly, we’re to not only abide in Jesus, but allow Jesus to abide in us. We’re to allow His life to flow through us and produce His fruit in us. As Paul was able to testify; “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

V. A FAILURE TO ABIDE RESULTS IN LOSS (v. 6).

Jesus then said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” Jesus is not saying here that if a genuine believer, who has been saved and attached to Jesus, ever backslides and falls away from the faith, failing to produce Christ’s fruit in their lives, then they’ll be cut off from the vine and lose their salvation. That can never happen. Jesus says elsewhere, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29). If someone has been attached to Jesus in a saving way, they will never be detached from Him and become lost to Him again.

Instead, Jesus is referring here to people who have merely attached themselves to Him in a superficial way, but not in a way so as to be able to truly abide in Him. They may be up-close to the vine—much like people who are raised in a Christian home, and know how to talk the talk, and put on a showy display of pretended faith—but they do not really abide in Christ. They have not been, as Paul said, “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7).

An example of what Jesus means by such a ‘casting out’ may have already actually occurred just prior to Jesus speaking these words—in the person of Judas. Jesus once told the gathered apostles— Judas included— “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). Jesus even called him “the son of perdition”— that is, one who is destined to perish (John 17:12). Judas was never truly ‘abiding’ in Christ. He was never saved. Apparently not even holding the office of apostle could prevent someone from being severed from the vinebranch if he wasn’t ‘abiding’ in Christ. This reminds us of the seriousness with which the Father takes His role as vinedresser. Unfruitful, unattached branches hinder the growth of good, fruit-bearing branches. Only branches that bear fruit are permitted to remain; and only branches that abide in a vital, intimate connection with the vine are the ones that bear fruit.

VI. FAITHFULNESS TO ABIDE RESULTS IN POWER (v. 7).

Jesus describes something of what fruitfulness means when He said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (v. 7). Earlier, Jesus said that He was going to the Father; “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). Similarly, in 1 John 5:14-15, we’re told, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” To the degree that we are abiding in Him—and His words are abiding in us—to that degree our will will be submitted to His. And when our will is His will, and our desires are His desires, we can ask what we want. What we would be asking would be what it was that He already wanted to do!

VII. JESUS’ DISCIPLES ARE IDENTIFIED BY FRUITFUL ABIDING (v. 8).

And finally, notice that “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (v. 8). Our fruitfulness—the result of abiding in Jesus—is proof to the world that we are His. After Jesus had risen from the dead, ascended to the Father, and sent His Holy Spirit to the disciples, they preached boldly and powerfully; and brought thousands to faith in Christ in just a matter of days. The work of the kingdom of Jesus advanced mightily through them. How? They were abiding in Christ. Even as it says of those who tried to stop them in their preaching, as we’re told in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

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May we so abide in Christ that the world looks at us as people that they recognize as having been with Jesus too. There is no fruitfulness apart from Him.